Five lessons from a Saturday where Ohio State made certain nobody would confuse it with a national championship contender, obese coach Charlie Weis put a world-wide scare into crutches and Auburn beat Mississippi State 3-2 in the SEC baseball .. no wait, that was a football score?1. The Buckeyes showed no Beanie was no excuse. Just like Jim Tressel said, Chris "Beanie" Wells and his ailing big toe were unavailable for USC, with the All-America running back not even wearing pads. The running game, of course, suffered mightily without Beanie as OSU totaled 71 yards on 34 carries but while we knew Ohio State's offense was going to lose some of its punch, what was surprising was the number of crucial mistakes the Buckeyes made. There was the holding penalty that nullified a second-quarter touchdown, Todd Boeckman was intercepted by Rey Maualuga and in the end, OSU was hit with its worst loss since 63-14 vs. Penn State in 1994. Give Tressel credit: he didn't play Wells and didn't try to pull the wool over Pete Carroll's eyes by at least suiting Beanie up. He deemed Wells' future and that of hte Buckeyes more important than one game. But Wells or not and statement of Tressel's character or not, anyone who thought the Buckeyes shouldn't have had a chance to play in a second straight BCS title game can rest assured OSU won't made it to a third.
2. It wasn't pretty, but Georgia showed some mettle. Rennie Curran made what is arguably the most crucial play of any team with national title ambitions in hitting South Carolina's Mike Davis and jarring loose the ball when the Gamecocks appeared to be tying the Bulldogs. Lucky? Yes, but it does take some measure of luck along the line to stay in the hunt. It is a little alarming that UGA needed that bit of luck in the first game of the SEC slate but Columbia has been kryptonite to the Bulldogs and now they know they can win in a hostile enviroment against what is arguably one of the top three defenses in the SEC.
3. Notre Dame beat Michgan. So what? Irish-Wolverines, or Water World II was quite possibly one of the ugliest football games The Señior has ever seen. Michigan turned the ball over six times, including two in the first quarter in spotting Notre Dame a 21-0 lead. The best thing about Michigan all day was YouTube legend Sam McGuffie and as the rain continued to pound South Bend, the shifty, elusive back was ultimately taken out of the game by the weather (he had just eight fourth-quarter yards after 123 in the first three). Maybe God really is a Notre Dame fan ... but he may not be real high on Weis.
4. Tyrod Taylor, the Hokies are yours. The Virginia Tech quarterback's passing numbers weren't outstanding (9-of-14 for 48 yards) but it was what he did with his legs in rushing for 74 yards on 15 attempts in the win over Georgia Tech that make it clear he, and not Sean Glennon, is the man to lead the Virginia Tech offense. Taylor brings a dynamic presence that the erratic Glennon (7 of 31 for 181 yards, one touchdown and three INTs this season) just can't match, which made it even more bewildering when Frank Beamer gave Glennon the keys and Taylor a redshirt. Glennon may have helped the Hokies to the Orange Bowl last year but it was Taylor who was ACC title game MVP and it's Taylor who is now 6-0 as a starter. This is Taylor's team now and the worst thing Beamer can do is go back to rotating QBs. Glennon's place has been determined and it's on the bench.
5. It's high time we consider Javon Ringer among the nation's best RBs. Saturday's career-high 282 yards may have come against Florida Atlantic, but it was an impressive performance for a back who gets overshadowed by Beanie Wells in his own conference and the likes of Knowshon Moreno nationally but with Ringer in the workhorse role for Michigan State, he may finally get the hype he deserves. In the last two games, Ringer has carried the ball 77 times, including a career-high 43 vs. FAU. The hardest thing for Ringer on Saturday was the weather as rain soaked Spartan Stadium. "This was definitely the most work I've had, but my body feels good," Ringer told the Detroit Free Press. "The only thing that's really aggravating is just my feet. They're wet." Can his 5-foot-9, 202-pound frame keep carrying 30 times a game? So far it's generated a nation's best nine touchdowns and 498 yards (third nationally).
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